A New Way to Experience College Tours
By Liz Yokubisony, LizYokubisony.com I September 27, 2022
College tours can be daunting, to say the least. Narrowing down which colleges to visit can feel like looking for a needle in a haystack. For both parents and students. Add to that inflated gas prices and airfares, and many parents would prefer to avoid the expense and hassle altogether. Enter The College Tour – a new way to experience college tours. From the comfort of your own living room.
An Alternative to Expensive College Tours
The College Tour (TCT) offers students and their parents the chance to watch student-led college tours via Amazon Prime. Not an Amazon subscriber? No problem. TCT is also available free of charge via Freevee and on the website itself. They even have an app. The goal? To ensure that the content is accessible to everyone.
The genesis of the idea came from the show’s co-founder and host Alex Boylan. Alex got his start in television by winning The Amazing Race, and later went on to build an impressive resume of creating, hosting, and producing TV shows.
A few years ago, when Alex’s niece was in high school, she and her mother stayed at his home in Venice, California while touring campuses in southern California. After a few days, his niece started talking about wanting to visit colleges in Texas and New York. Much to the chagrin of her mother, who had intended for this to be her one and only college tour trip.
Alex started helping his niece research colleges online and was quickly overwhelmed. “With 900 community colleges and 2500 four-year colleges/universities, I thought how can we distill all this information?” recalls Alex. “It was the first time I created a show based on a problem that I was dealing with. And that’s exactly how The College Tour was born.”
Alex tapped friends and colleagues to create a team of 60 talented people, many of whom helped build Survivor and The Biggest Loser, that share a passion for the show. And while it takes up to six months to produce one episode of TCT, they work lock step with the universities every step of the way. “I never would have thought in a million years that Hollywood and higher education would work together so well,” Alex says with a smile.
The show is student led, featuring real college students who share their personal stories and individualized college experiences. The idea is to utilize an older demographic (current college students) to reach a younger demographic (high school students) and get them excited about attending college.
“It is an honor and a pleasure to be in the position we are to lift up higher education,” says Alex. “If you need to be inspired by the next generation, watch The College Tour. These young people are incredible, so special. If there’s one thing America can get behind, it is the future of our children.”
A Diverse Mix of College Tours
Currently, five seasons of the show are live, and profile over 50 different college campuses. TCT operates on a rolling launch – meaning that as soon as an episode is complete, it is rolled out on the website and the app. Then it is released as an entire season on Amazon Prime and Freevee. Season 6 is scheduled for a November 2022 release.
The diversity of colleges profiled each season is impressive. For example, Season 1 features Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, Arizona State University and Delaware Valley University, to name just a few. This means that prospective students can watch a tour about a small liberal arts college in the heart of the mountains, one of the largest universities in the country and a small, private school that focuses on agribusiness and animal sciences.
According to Alex. “Our goal is to tell the story of each and every four-year college and community college. It’s a massive passion project and the way we’ve approached it to date is staying diversified. Each school is so different, in terms of location and culture, and we want to get to everyone, but our biggest limitation is the timing.”
Student Led Campus Tours
The focus on diversity is also reflected by which students The College Tour selects to profile on each campus. TCT offers open casting at each location which means that any student can apply to be on the show. “When we’re casting, we’re thinking about diversity. The idea is for prospective students to watch a full-fledged experience at one college from 10 different student perspectives rather than a single tour guide, like traditional campus tours,” says Alex.
Each episode is designed to show the heart and soul of the campus, which is a collective goal of TCT and the selected university. Together they evaluate the best stories to tell until slowly the episode starts to reveal itself. Each student writes their own first draft of the script for their segment, so the stories are genuine and individualized.
After casting is complete, TCT does a full onboarding with each student, helping craft their authentic story. Then they are all given a crash course in media training, so they are comfortable in front of the camera. And it certainly doesn’t hurt that some of best directors in the industry are working with these students, ensuring that the end product is a source of pride to the student, the university and TCT.
Value of The College Tour to Parents
As an extremely cost-effective alternative to traditional college tours, TCT is a conduit to get students to campus without leaving home. In fact, many families are sitting down and watching an episode together, once a week.
“TCT really puts the parent on the same page with the student, allowing them to connect with their student and have great conversations,” says Alex.
“We are doing the best job possible to bring you to that campus from your living room, while saving you time, energy and money.”
Additionally, at the suggestion of high school college counselors, TCT offers an online class, at no charge, to help students prioritize their interests and narrow the search process. “The class is organized into bite sized pieces, layering the information while giving context to what you’re watching,” says Alex. “It lays out, on a macro level, what students need to be thinking about as they start to narrow down colleges that interest them.”
There are three more classes in the cue: the newly launched first-generation class, and the upcoming classes focused on international students and majors. All these classes will pull videos from the show to help high school students get inspired to take the next step in their college search process.
“On an extremely macro level TCT’s goal is to inspire high schoolers to graduate high school and go on and get a higher education degree no matter what that looks like – a certificate, bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or doctorate,” reflects Alex. “The best thing is figuring out what you want to do in life and getting the education to make that happen. Hopefully The College Tour is a small part that.”
Amazon Prime Series Features Scottsdale Community College Students
Episode follows students from Maricopa County Community College District
By Ariana Grainey, Daily Independent I September 12, 2022
With nearly 100,000 students, Maricopa County Community College District understands its worth and isn’t afraid to reshape the traditional narrative of higher education.
To prove it, MCCCD is the nation’s first community college system to be featured on “The College Tour,” an Amazon Prime Video series that offers prospective students an inside look at what campus life is truly like at some of the nation’s largest universities, according to a press release.
The district, with ten individually accredited colleges throughout the greater Phoenix area, will offer four-year degrees in fall 2023, pending approval from the Higher Learning Commission, and begin competing with some of the nation’s most established universities.
Even more important, MCCCD is now the first institution in the show’s history to develop and produce a fully dedicated Spanish-language episode that reflects the system’s diverse student population, the press release stated.
MCCCD’s English episode kicks off Season 5 of “The College Tour” and can be viewed across a number of streaming platforms, including the district’s dedicated landing page, The College Tour’s website and mobile app, IMDb TV, and Amazon’s premium free streaming service.
Additionally, the Spanish-language episode can be found on the district’s website, with a forthcoming Amazon Prime release currently in the works, the release explained.
Each of MCCCD’s twenty unique student segments showcase all the system has to offer including affordability, re-careering, adult learners, dual enrollment, and state-of-the-art programs — told through the eyes of each student.
“We are taking a bold step forward to join the ranks of top-tier, four-year universities in offering premium bachelor’s degrees in some of the most highly-sought after industries,” MCCCD’s interim chancellor Dr. Steven R. Gonzales stated in the release.
“It is important that we leverage new communication channels like this to increase accessibility to students, and meet them where they are when searching for a high-caliber education,” Gonzales detailed. “This amplifies our student’s message, increases awareness of our capabilities, and demonstrates the System’s commitment to meeting the lifelong learning needs of the students and communities we serve.”
The episode highlights the fact that with more than 40 college and university partnerships and over 600 degree and certificate programs, students have plenty of options to choose from based on their goals and whether they want to transfer to complete a bachelor’s degree, learn new career skills or enter the workforce right away.
“The story of the Maricopa Community Colleges is so important, and unlike anything we’ve ever created before,” stated executive producer and host, Alex Boylan. “We live in a media-driven world, where diverse stories matter, so to be able to capture the essence of ten colleges that are part of one of the largest community college systems in the nation is really special and I can’t wait for the audience to see it.”
Boylan takes viewers on a road trip from one end of the Valley to the other to listen to the amazing and diverse stories of MCCCD students, such as engineering student William Boutin, a re-careering student and former race car engineer, who attends Chandler-Gilbert Community College.
Boutin stated in the release, “One of my engineering professors works full-time for an aerospace company and still takes the time to teach at CGCC. This type of connection is critical because students can learn real-world problems that current industry engineers are facing.”
The English episode features two Scottsdale Community College students.
The first, Amaya Ellis, is a health and exercise science major who fell in love with the campus during a tour, according to the release. Thanks to the flexible learning modalities, she was able to take classes online and utilize in-person resources that allow her to work at her own pace while spending time with the 27 animals she cares for.
Curtis Wilmer, the other student from SCC and a psychology major, is a re-careering student who is pursuing a career as a clinical psychologist. He found passionate faculty, interesting classes and affordable tuition at SCC. Wilmer loved the sense of community and encouragement offered by the professors and staff, the release stated.
Curtis Wilmer, the other student from SCC and a psychology major, is a re-careering student who is pursuing a career as a clinical psychologist. He found passionate faculty, interesting classes and affordable tuition at SCC. Wilmer loved the sense of community and encouragement offered by the professors and staff, the release stated.
Additionally, two students from Paradise Valley Community College were also included in the episode: Jeremiah Horton and Jennifer Chaudhry.
Horton, a dental hygiene major, is a first-generation student who relocated from Mississippi and considers PVCC his home away from home. As an African American and a part of the LGBTQ+ community, he always felt welcomed on campus and was part of the college’s film club and emerging leaders club.
Chaudhry is a nursing major who went back to college to re-career. The release explained that when her first child was born with a cleft palate, she found her calling and set out to work in a NICU, but didn’t have the opportunity until she found PVCC, an affordable college with an online curriculum.
Visit https://www.maricopa.edu/college-tour to hear the students’ stories and get a behind-the-scenes look at how this episode came together. Learn more about the new four-year degrees that they hope to offer as soon as fall of 2023.
‘The College Tour,’ Which Helps Students Save Money, Just Released Their First Spanish-Language Episode
By Guisell Gomez, BELatina Magazine I September 7, 2022
College culture is encompassed by many factors. It’s not just buying college books and filling out your FAFSA application; it’s more than that.
From choosing the right college to the way you pay off your schooling, it is not congruent with everyone’s situation. Here’s the thing: Choosing the right college is not usually an eenie-miney-mo scenario.
Many people want to ensure they choose the right campus and college programs. That’s where college visits come into play; it seems like the ideal next step. Yet, it can incur some heavy costs.
According to U.S. News and World Report, visiting colleges and universities can cost $2,000. And that’s for just one trip. Factor in lodging, food, and anything else to make the trip comfortable, and the expenses will increase.
For many U.S.-based Latinos taking the next step into their future, the option to tour a college before sending their applications is not always viable. Remember that more than 4 in 10 (44 percent) Latino students are the first in their family to attend college, which means they count on limited guidance as they embark on their journey in higher education.
Creating equitable access to education
This is another example of inequitable access to education. Thankfully, it’s being combatted by people using media and technology to give others virtual tours of college campuses.
For instance, The College Tour empowers high school students to virtually travel across America for an inside look at colleges and universities.
“Our show is inclusive to everybody. Every episode features diverse student voices, all sharing their own unique experiences in higher education,” show host and co-creator Alex Boylan told BELatina News in an interview.
“The show has a heart and the show has a purpose, and in each episode, there are important stories to tell.”
The College Tour, which is executive produced by Emmy-nominated producers Alex Boylan, Lisa Hennessy, and Burton Roberts, is available on Amazon Prime’s free streaming service and its website. In order to give aspiring students the full picture, each episode of The College Tour showcases the college or university through the eyes of current students, where they talk about academics, sports, extracurricular activities, and more. This gives the interested students at home a different perspective aside from what the college or university advertises. Currently, shooting its seventh season, the series has filmed in over 75 colleges, including the University of Illinois and Tulane University, to small town colleges such as Fort Lewis College.
To appeal to a diverse audience, The College Tour recently aired its first Spanish-language episode, where they visited ten Maricopa Community Colleges in Phoenix, Arizona. They featured 20 Latino/a students who come from different walks of life. The host for this episode, Lorena Segura, heard from adult learners, first-generation, DACA and high school dual enrollment students.
“You see that there are people with different skill levels, people that are honor students, people that school is a little bit harder for, but the common theme is they’re all doing it and they’re so proud that they have the courage to get out there and achieve their dreams,” Boylan said.
Participant Daniel Castaneda Martinez, who gave us a tour of Gateway Community College, a Maricopa Community College, shared his college experience.
Majoring in computer science and Information Technology, he took us through his journey in getting into Gateway.
“I came to Gateway through referrals. Luckily, I was able to find the Information Technology program, which I’m currently enrolled in, [and it] is very affordable,” Castaneda Martinez said during his segment in Spanish.
“I am very grateful that my advisor had the patience to explain the program to me, after much effort and with the support of my family.”
He does not take his college degree lightly. He understands how impactful it will be to the students coming from working-class households.
“I definitely know that I am in the right place, and I will dedicate my achievements to those who build, who clean houses, and mow the garden with a smile on their faces; I do it for them knowing how hard it is to earn the daily bread.”
The rest of the participants gave us insights into their journeys, which was inspirational.
Behind the inception of ‘The College Tour’
In a recent interview with Alex Boylan, the Co-founder, Executive Producer, and main host of The College Tour, he told us what inspired him to create a series that is sure to help many families.
“I’ve dedicated my life to telling stories and have been fortunate to film in over 60 countries around the world,” he told BELatina News.
“It gives me great pride to now travel throughout America to tell the story of higher education through the lens of real students.”
Find out more about him and The College Tour below. (The interview has been slightly edited for clarity and brevity.)
Do you remember when you conceptualized this project? How has it changed since then?
I can 100 percent remember when I conceptualized The College Tour. A couple of years ago, my niece was given one trip to look at college campuses. She decided to come out and stay with me in Los Angeles, where we spent a week exploring all the colleges around the city. During that week, I heard her ask her mom (my sister) if she could go to New York, Florida, and Texas to look at some other colleges. It pained me to watch my older sister explain that they did not have the finances to travel the country looking at campuses and that this would be her sole trip. From here, I started helping my niece navigate the college search online. I hate to say this, but it was a big challenge. Where do you start? How do you figure out the vibe and culture of a campus? There is so much information out there, and each college tells its story in a different format. It was here where the lightbulb went off. Higher education needs its own TV series. I wanted young people, like my niece, to be free to explore colleges across the country from the comfort of their homes or classroom without the financial burden of jumping on a plane.
Has ‘The College Tour’ changed since you first created it?
The College Tour hasn’t changed much since day one. Of course, our team is a lot bigger now, and we have fine-tuned our production processes, but I am proud of the story we told in episode one, just as I am with episode 76 that we are filming right now.
What has been one of your favorite moments of ‘The College Tour?’
My favorite moment of The College Tour is being on campus filming with the students. Everyone puts in so much work to make each episode awesome and authentic to that institution. And watching these incredible students be so brave to open up and tell their personal stories to the world is something that never gets old.
What’s been the most challenging part of filming ‘The College Tour?’
Every ounce of The College Tour has been a blessing. Of course, nothing is built without challenges, but that’s all just part of the process. If I had to pick one thing, it would be the building of our production process. We work hand in hand with each college to build their authentic story. So, coming up with the production system where we stay true to the featured institution while keeping in line with our format has taken a lot of work and brain power from many people.
Did the team face any different challenges while filming the first Spanish-language episode?
All ‘firsts’ are challenging because it’s the first time you will run into things you may not have expected. Fortunately, we have people part of our team who are native Spanish speakers – so that was great. Overall, this episode went very smoothly, thanks to everyone coming together from our production team and the college. We are so proud of the episode, as we feature many first-generation college students and immigrants. So many students said they were intimidated by the college process, but all of them are now at college and thriving. Seeing them soar is beautiful, and we hope it inspires more people in the Latino community to feel connected to the concept of pursuing higher education.
Anything, in particular, you’d like to share with the BELatina News audience?
First off, thank you for watching! We work to serve the next generation of students. We hope this series helps inspire you to further your education, learn about different majors, and find your passion and purpose to go on to live the life you aspire to have. We want everyone to realize that college is accessible, and dreams are accessible as well.
Streaming TV Series ‘The College Tour’ Profiles Siena Heights University
By David Panian, Lenconnect.com I Daily Telegram I September 6, 2022
ADRIAN — In November, Siena Heights University will be featured on an Amazon Prime series that takes viewers to colleges and universities around the country.
But this year’s incoming freshmen got a sneak peek at SHU’s episode on “The College Tour” during a watch party Aug. 28 at Sister Kevin McLaughlin Music Hall in the Spencer Performing Arts Center that closed out Welcome Week, and the episode is online now on SHU’s YouTube channel.
The show is hosted by Alex Boylan, a television personality who first became known to viewers when he won CBS’ “Amazing Race” when he was 23. He has since been a part of several others shows, including “At The Chef’s Table” and “Animal Attractions” on PBS and being Rachael Ray’s sidekick on the “Rach to the Rescue” segment of her talk show. Boylan was on hand at the watch party to meet with students and share his insights on making the episode and what the students should get out of their college years.
SHU is the first college or university from Michigan to be featured on “The College Tour,” which visits schools large and small — from state universities as large as Arizona State to community colleges — to profile students who share what it was that led them to their school. The episodes let prospective college students check out several schools to start narrowing down their choices.
The show’s website, www.thecollegetour.com, includes classes designed to help college-bound students figure out what kind of school they want to attend.
Ten SHU students were profiled in the episode, demonstrating the diversity of their hometowns and interests. The students came from as nearby as Adrian and as far away as Brazil. One student is a first-year student this year, while another received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from SHU.
During his time working with SHU, Boylan said, he became well aware of what the school calls the “Siena effect.”
“It’s palpable with the students. Here, I would say, overall the feeling of community and purpose just exemplifies it,” he said. “…Whatever it is that they’re studying here, there’s an angle on it here where it’s like, hey, we’re going to give you this ethical viewpoint to hopefully take these skills and not only just get a great job so you can prosper in life but to give back to your community.”
The students who were profiled were:
• Paige Westergaard, first-year student from Sterling Heights, majoring in biology and minoring in art.
• Liam DiPietro, a senior from Adrian majoring in Spanish and business administration.
• Wyatt Howe, a sophomore from North Branch majoring in nursing.
• Mercedes Starr, a junior from Tempe, Arizona, majoring in business administration and minoring in communications and Spanish.
• Autumn Bradford, a junior from Sterling Heights majoring in musical theater.
• Alexis Hirst, a senior from Clinton Township majoring in history and business administration.
• Adam Baker, a senior from Flint majoring in musical theater.
• Ashley Bearden of Jackson, who received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in 2014 and a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling in 2021.
• Ben Ellis, a sophomore from Doylestown, Ohio, majoring in politics and international business.
• Wilhelm Weissheimer, a senior from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, majoring in exercise science and minoring in biology.
After watching the episode, the audience and Michael Orlando, SHU vice president of student life who was the event’s master of ceremonies, asked questions to let the student cast members expand upon topics in the episode.
Bradford and Baker were asked how Siena helped them come out of their shells and become great performers.
“Honestly, faith and just knowing that that’s one of the things that I am here to do on earth,” Bradford said.
There have been times when she doubted if she was doing something well, she said, but she’s had faith that performing is what she is here to do, to let people attend a show and take their minds off whatever might be troubling them.
Baker said when he started at SHU he wasn’t thinking of studying musical theater, but then he met professors Mark DiPietro — Liam’s father — and Michael Yuen. He only saw himself as a singer, but through their encouragement found a passion for theater.
“When you know that you have something in you that you have a passion for, it’s like that core, gut feeling that every time you get to do it, it gives you the most joy, the most passion,” he said. “That is the thing that you chase, even if it’s uncomfortable because you’ll get to a place to where you’re uncomfortable but you’re comfortable in it because you know that you’ve been called to do it. And Siena has helped me to do that.”
Boylan’s two-word advice to the first-year students was “show up.”
“It’s really to try new things and explore,” he said. “You’re probably never in your life going to be exposed to so many things and have the ability to explore. … This is your time on Planet Earth to try things because soon you’re going to be in the real world where it gets to where you really have to figure it out. … You never know where you’re going to get this feeling that, man, I really like this.”
For Boylan, being on “The Amazing Race” flipped his career aspirations from doing something with his degree in international business to making a career in TV.
Boylan started the show after an experience he had with his niece who lives in Wisconsin and came to visit him in Los Angeles and tour colleges there. She wanted to go around the country visiting schools but, like most college-bound students, didn’t have the means to do that.
“The reality is that there’s 2,500 colleges out there,” and students want to visit them, he said. “That was where the light bulb went off that, why is there not a television show about higher education? We’re so fortunate to be in America with so many amazing institutions and so many options for students. The accessibility to higher education in this country is like nothing else in the world.”
He went to his producing partners, Lisa Hennessy and Burton Roberts, and they put the show together. They’re now filming the seventh season of “The College Tour” and by the end of it will have shot almost 100 episodes in two years.
“Never would I have thought that higher education and Hollywood would fit so well together, and they do,” he said. “Because at the end of the day, what they’re doing has meaning, has real story, and real, authentic pure story, and in Hollywood we love telling stories so it just works perfectly.”
It takes about six months to make an episode, Boylan said. There is about 10 weeks of preproduction, which includes meeting with the school staff, casting students with “great stories” and preparing them for their segments; then five days on campus filming; then another 10 weeks or so in postproduction, which includes double-checking things with the schools, like making sure they have video of the correct buildings to go with each student.
Along with Amazon Prime, episodes can be viewed on several streaming services, including Amazon Freevee, Tubi and Roku, as well as on Apple and Android phones and tablets through The College Tour’s app.
Maricopa Community Colleges Featured on Amazon Prime ‘College Tour’ as First-Ever Community College Highlighted
AZEDNEWS I September 1, 2022
The Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD), with ten individually accredited colleges throughout the Greater Phoenix area, will offer four-year degrees in Fall 2023, pending approval from the Higher Learning Commission, and begin competing with some of the nation’s most established universities. With nearly 100,000 students, MCCCD understands its worth and isn’t afraid to reshape the traditional narrative of higher education. To prove it, MCCCD is the nation’s first community college system to be featured on “The College Tour,” an Amazon Prime Video series that offers prospective students an inside look at what campus life is truly like at some of the nation’s largest universities. Even more important, MCCCD is now the first institution in the show’s history to develop and produce a fully dedicated Spanish-language episode that reflects the System’s diverse student population.
MCCCD’s English episode kicks off Season 5 of “The College Tour” and can be viewed across a number of streaming platforms, including the district’s dedicated landing page, The College Tour’s website and mobile app, IMDb TV, and Amazon’s premium free streaming service. Additionally, the Spanish-language episode can be found on the district’s website, with a forthcoming Amazon Prime release currently in the works.
Each of MCCCD’s twenty unique student segments showcase all the System has to offer including affordability, re-careering, adult learners, dual enrollment, and state-of-the-art programs — told through the eyes of each student.
“We are taking a bold step forward to join the ranks of top-tier, four-year universities in offering premium bachelor’s degrees in some of the most highly-sought after industries,” said MCCCD’s Interim Chancellor Dr. Steven R. Gonzales. “It is important that we leverage new communication channels like this to increase accessibility to students, and meet them where they are when searching for a high-caliber education. This amplifies our student’s message, increases awareness of our capabilities, and demonstrates the System’s commitment to meeting the lifelong learning needs of the students and communities we serve.”
“The story of the Maricopa Community Colleges is so important, and unlike anything we’ve ever created before,” said Executive Producer and Host, Alex Boylan. “We live in a media-driven world, where diverse stories matter, so to be able to capture the essence of ten colleges that are part of one of the largest community college systems in the nation is really special and I can’t wait for the audience to see it.”
The episode highlights the fact that with more than 40 college and university partnerships and over 600 degree and certificate programs, students have plenty of options to choose from based on their goals and whether they want to transfer to complete a bachelor’s degree, learn new career skills, or enter the workforce right away.
Boylan takes viewers on a road trip from one end of the Valley to the other to listen to the amazing and diverse stories of MCCCD students, such as engineering student William Boutin, a re-careering student and former race car engineer, who attends Chandler-Gilbert Community College. Boutin said, “One of my engineering professors works full-time for an aerospace company and still takes the time to teach at CGCC. This type of connection is critical because students can learn real-world problems that current industry engineers are facing.”
The English episode features the following current and former MCCCD students:
· Chandler-Gilbert Community College: William Boutin, an engineering student, formerly worked as a NASCAR race engineer and appreciates the speed, efficiency, and affordability he finds at the college. He enjoys the variety of class formats and the real-world experience of caring professors.
· Chandler-Gilbert Community College: Nicole Love is a Fine Arts and Dance major whose goal is to open a performing arts dance school and mentor other dancers. CGCC helps her balance parenting, work, and her courses.
· Mesa Community College: Heidi Ball is a former dance school owner and preschool teacher who pursued a completely new career in technology. The college’s smaller classes, affordability, and class flexibility fit her lifestyle and increased her confidence. She also received hands-on experience during a paid internship at a nearby semiconductor chip manufacturing plant.
· Mesa Community College: Allen Priyanshu, a cybersecurity major, loved the affordability, flexible learning formats, and location of MCC. The encouragement and networking from his instructors have been a very positive and confidence-building experience, leading to a job offer while still in school.
· Scottsdale Community College: Amaya Ellis, a health and exercise science major, fell in love with the campus during a tour. Thanks to the flexible learning modalities, she was able to take classes online and utilize in-person resources that allow her to work at her own pace while spending time with the 27 animals she cares for.
· Scottsdale Community College: Curtis Wilmer, a psychology major, is a re-careering student who is pursuing a career as a clinical psychologist. He found passionate faculty, interesting classes, and affordable tuition at SCC. Curtis loved the sense of community and encouragement offered by the professors and staff.
· GateWay Community College: Courtney Capps is a computer information systems major who formerly worked as an executive pastry chef. She hung her apron up and re-careered, continuing to work full time, taking online classes, and is looking forward to transferring to ASU through the MAPP MyPath2ASU™ program.
· GateWay Community College: Former high school student, Janette Alexis, comes from a family of immigrants. While at GWCC, she took part in an early college program in hopes to pursue a career as a traveling nurse. She had the opportunity to volunteer at both a non-profit organization and on campus and loved each experience.
· Phoenix College: Amber Robison is a business major who had open heart surgery in high school and returned to college during the pandemic. She is now a full-time honors student, a competing delegate in Model UN, and Vice President of Marketing in the college’s Business Club.
· Phoenix College: Rachael Scott, majoring in deaf studies and interpreter preparation, was always fascinated by deaf culture and the community, so she returned to school as a non-traditional adult learner. Rachael was thrilled that the college is so affordable, and her counselors put her mind at ease when she learned her older credits would still transfer.
· Rio Salado College: Jackie Elliot is an online student and working single mom who has overcome addiction and is now majoring in addictions and substance use disorders. She enrolled at age 32, pursuing a career to help others, hoping to pay it forward as an addiction counselor, and has realized that even with a busy schedule, going back to college is a real possibility.
· Rio Salado College: Mahesh Poudel, studying programming and system analysis, always wanted to go back to college after moving to the U.S. from Nepal. As a working dad with two children, he took a few classes at a time and Rio Salado made it easy with flexible start times, online learning, and affordable tuition.
· South Mountain Community College: Manas Mankad, an international trade major, was born in a Muslim country. Residency complications hindered financial aid, so he found quality higher education that was affordable at SMCC. He loves that the college is small, but mighty, with huge values and dedication to its students and community.
· South Mountain Community College: Briana Simental, a pre-med (physiology) major, got back on track after experiencing a bit of time filled with doubt and lack of motivation. She enjoys the flexibility and variety of learning formats at SMCC that allowed her to accomplish other goals such as becoming a phlebotomist and earning hours for physician assistant’s school.
· Glendale Community College: Anyell Mata is a first-generation, electrical engineering transfer student who became part of a NASA-funded engineering program and created projects where he applied his learning while at GCC. He found community college classes are more hands-on than a university and he was able to meet other students through the college’s Engineering Club with whom he designed a model rocket acceleration project and hosted a workshop similar to NASA’s Ascend Program.
· Glendale Community College: Isaac Mcintosh is a music education major and saxophonist who would like to share his passion for music with others. His father also attended GCC and he appreciates that they had some of the same professors. Isaac also likes the great variety of classes in the music field that the college has to offer.
· Estrella Mountain Community College: Shawn Holland, a film and media major, said EMCC does a great job at providing fun projects and production opportunities for students. He’s no longer afraid of trying something new and the college raised his confidence, while introducing him to other film peers.
· Estrella Mountain Community College: Kayden Blakely, a journalism major, is using EMCC as a stepping-stone to her bachelor’s degree and career pursuits. She’s found so many opportunities to write about topics she’s passionate about and is eager to enter the journalism field.
· Paradise Valley Community College: Jeremiah Horton, a dental hygiene major, is a first-generation student who relocated from Mississippi and considers PVCC his home away from home. As an African American and part of the LGBTQ+ community. He always felt welcomed on campus and was part of the college’s Film Club and Emerging Leaders Club.
· Paradise Valley Community College: Jennifer Chaudhry is a nursing major who went back to college to re-career. When her first child was born with a cleft palate, she found her calling and set out to work in a NICU, but didn’t have the opportunity until she found PVCC, an affordable college with an online curriculum.
Visit https://www.maricopa.edu/college-tour to hear the students’ stories and get a behind-the-scenes look at how this episode came together. Learn more about the new four-year degrees we hope to offer as soon as Fall of 2023.
About the Maricopa Community Colleges
The Maricopa County Community College District includes ten individually-accredited colleges – Chandler-Gilbert, Estrella Mountain, GateWay, Glendale, Mesa, Paradise Valley, Phoenix, Rio Salado, Scottsdale, and South Mountain – and the Maricopa Corporate College, serving approximately 100,000 students with two-year degrees, certificates, and university transfer programs.
About The College Tour
Created by Alex Boylan, Lisa Hennessy, and Burton Roberts, a team of successful entrepreneurs in the TV, social media, and technology space, the trio is known for pursuing their passion for adventure and their love of storytelling. Each episode of The College Tour tells the story of what life is truly like on college campuses across the country and around the world. From academics, housing, sports career preparation, campus life, location, and much more. In this innovative and informative series, each story is told by real students, professors, and alumni. www.thecollegetour.com.
The University of Idaho will be featured on the show “College Tour”
Big Country News I August 28, 2022
MOSCOW – A one of a kind television show that allows Colleges and Universities to market their uniqueness to prospective students stopped to film in Moscow Idaho last week. During filming, 10 University of Idaho students were able to showcase their college experience for an episode of College Tours. The show focuses on a variety of topics “from campus life, academics, housing, sports, activities, and much more… each student driven segment will give young people an inside look at what it’s truly like being a student at the featured college or university.” Each new episode of The College Tour focuses on a single college or university. The series is hosted by Alex Boylan, former winner of CBS’s Amazing Race show. Alex and his Emmy-Award winning production team have also worked on Survivor, The Worlds Toughest Race, and The Chef’s Table…among many more. According to Alex, the College Tour series intends to ” provide a well-rounded perspective that provides prospective students with a feel for the culture and vibe of a campus that they can’t get just reading about it online.” The University of Idaho episode will air this fall on both Amazon Video and Tubi. For more information on the show you can visit thecollegetour.com.
TV show highlights UI students
By Anthony Kuipers, Moskow-Pullman Daily News I August 27, 2022
A television show aimed at helping high school students decide where to go to college made a stop in Vandal country this week.
The University of Idaho will be highlighted on “The College Tour,” which will air on Amazon Prime, Tubi and other platforms.
Host and co-creator Alex Boylan said each episode of the show tells the story of a different higher education institution through the eyes of its students.
“So these are real students — real stories,” he said.
Boylan and his crew stood on the lawn in front of the UI Administration Building on Friday to film his introductions to each Vandal student highlighted in the episode.
“UI is awesome,” he told the Daily News. “There’s an energy on this campus that is just palpable and palpable in a very positive, friendly way and the student stories that we tell are awesome. Our crew has been having a blast all week long.”
Boylan, who has worked in television since winning CBS’s Amazing Race in 2002, said “The College Tour” was inspired by his niece, who couldn’t figure out where to go to college and couldn’t afford to take many tours of schools.
“She’s like 99.9% of high school students out there,” he said. “They don’t have the money to travel all around the country.”
After watching “The College Tour” episode on Arizona State University, she found out that her employer, Starbucks, offered scholarships to ASU. Boylan said his niece is now a Sun Devil thanks to a full-ride scholarship.
Boylan hopes his show will help other high school students in the same position as his niece. He said it is a way for current college students to speak indirectly to high school audiences.
“What a pleasure it is to bring these campuses to life and to share that information with the millions of high schoolers out there to help them find the right place,” he said.
Boylan said that by the end of the year, “The College Tour” will have highlighted 100 institutions. Other Northwest schools include the University of Oregon, the University of Montana and the University of Puget Sound.
The other goal of the show, he said, is to celebrate the importance of higher education in America.
“It’s a world out there that has not been lifted up to the point on a national and international level like we are doing with ‘The College Tour,’ ” he said.
There is no date set for the airing of the UI episode, but Boylan said it will be ready later this year. For more information, visit thecollegetour.com.
TU Students & Faculty To Be Featured On ‘The College Tour’
By Ryan Gillin I Newson6.com
TULSA, Okla. –
Students and faculty at the University of Tulsa are having the opportunity to showcase their Golden Hurricane pride in an episode of the award-winning TV series, The College Tour.
Students at colleges, universities, and community colleges across the nation share their stories with The College Tour film crew of what life is really like on campus.
A television production crew has been following students around the University of Tulsa’s campus this week to highlight their experiences for an episode of the College Tour.
The goal of the television series is to expand options for prospective students and their families, who may not be able to afford to visit every school nationwide.
Alex Boylan, the creator and host of The College Tour, created the show to make college more accessible for everyone, and the admissions process less stressful.
“Now high schoolers can see a sneak peek into college life and think, ‘Oh I want to be an engineer,’ or ‘I want to be a lawyer.’ Hopefully we can increase high school graduation rates, and students going on to college and university,” Boylan said.
Every episode aims to feature a diverse group of students with varying backgrounds and interests, academically and socially.
Due to college tours being expensive and time consuming, the University of Tulsa’s admissions department looks forward to being featured.
“One of the biggest problems we have is that it’s sometimes hard for students to get to campus and our campus is so amazing, it’s so full of life, it’s beautiful to look at, so this is going to be an opportunity for students that can’t just hop on a plane and come visit us in Tulsa to be able to see what we’re like,” Patricia DeBolt, the dean of admissions, said.
The College Tour is streaming on Amazon Prime.
The College Tour: New Show that Shows Tour of a Specific College Each Episode
By Jason Bullock, Link for Counselors I August 18, 2022
The College Tour is a new TV series brought to you by Emmy-nominated and multi-award-winning producers. The series tells the story of colleges and universities around the world.
Each episode of The College Tour will focus on a single college or university. Here is a list and links to Colleges that have been featured so far: https://www.thecollegetour.com/tour-colleges/
From campus life, academics, housing, sports, activities, and much more… each student driven segment will give young people an inside look at what it’s truly like being a student at the featured college or university.
Click here to watch the show and episodes on Amazon Prime.
JU’s episode of “The College Tour” premieres on campus
By Katie Garwodd, Jacksonville University I August 18, 2022
The students, and now some alumni, brought their family and friends to take part in the premiere. The hour-long episode was shown for the first time in Swisher Theater to the stars and their guests, along with JU students, faculty and staff.
The episode and season 5 finale officially premieres on Amazon Prime on Sept. 1, where prospective students and their families can watch to see what life at Jacksonville University is really like.
‘The show is hosted by Alex Boylan ’99, winner of “The Amazing Race.” Boylan is the host and producer of multiple award-winning shows, including “The Chef’s Table,” “Animal Attractions,” “CBS Buzz Tour,” and “The Steve Harvey Show.”
Senior marine science major Samantha O’Keefe starred in the show, sharing her experiences with the Marine Science Research Institute and how it’s shaped her as she prepares for graduation. She’s been able to customize her academic experience by adding a chemistry minor to her degree and taking a study abroad research trip to Belize.
O’Keefe said that is all part of why JU was “the perfect fit” for her, and why she was so eager to be part of the episode.
“JU has given me so many amazing experiences, especially in research,” said Samantha O’Keefe. “It’s definitely made me a better scientist and student and ultimately I just wanted to show the whole world why I love the Marine Science program here, and what makes me passionate every day.”
James Demps ‘22, a theatre arts major and business administration minor, starred in the show as a senior. Demps lived on campus all four years, and was part of numerous organizations, such as the Infinitus vocal group, residential life and Finprov on campus. He shared his experiences with campus life on the show, and why he never regretted getting involved on campus.
As a theatre major, Demps has spent his fair share of time on stage, but this was his first experience being on camera.
“It was wonderful, honestly the entire crew was so sweet,” he said. “I have a tendency to talk too fast and they definitely helped me a lot with that. It was a 10 out of 10.”
Although Sommer Kinsler was just a freshman at the time of filming, her passion for JU shined through. In her first year, she already hosted events on campus, such as the Black History Month concert, and was elected vice president of the Student Government Association. She wanted to attend a school where she could get involved “right away,” she said.
“It was a lot of fun, the crew was very supportive and genuinely wanted us to tell our stories and be true to ourselves,” Kinsler said. “JU is genuinely such a great place and I love that people are getting to learn about it.”